sundrop
by impracticality
Summary: • of waterless bridges and dewy-eyed smiles—barrett x mana. •


**||sundrop**

**||notes :: **

**— I don't really like Mana, but Mana/Barrett is cuuute (plus they can have teacher!love in the second gen). **

**— Oh, yeah, and this is my Rune Factory debut! :D Reviews are loved.**

-x-

—_sundrop _

|a relationship is built on **waterless bridges **and **dewy-eyed smiles**|

-x-

He liked the rainy days best.

When it rained — _it poured —_ he could observe the world alone from behind misty glass, contained by stainless-steel windowpanes and oblivious to the sound of anything but the pitter-patter of drops—

and the occasional slosh of someone running through a puddle.

Wait.

Barrett adjusted his headband, blue eyes scanning the colorless depiction of city solace, searing for the origin of the disturbance.

He saw her.

-x-

So maybe 'her' was the only title he could address the girl by. For all her honeycomb smiles and sweetness that the star-spangled soothsayer told of, the shop owner's daughter had never really caught his eye.

He ran into her sometimes in Cherry Blossom Square, but they were always moving past each other, never staying in the same place.

Except for that one dry late-autumn afternoon, when she seemed trapped in a world of reminiscence. He watched her from the bench. She was sitting under the dead tree and counting invisible petals. He was looking.

She saw him.

"…Barrett?" Her normally cheery voice seemed deadened, whether this was accounted to painful memories or a personal dislike he didn't know nor care.

"Leave me alone."

She nodded her head like she understood

(but she really didn't).

-x-

Pink ribbons were Mana's trademark; frayed and faded.

They weren't quite as pretty plastered against the smudged charcoal of her hair, although she could hardly attempt to look demure when caught in a sudden storm.

He turned away from the window, breaking the serene enchantment of melancholy teardrops — and he abruptly became aware of the fragrance of pumpkin spice in the air.

The bridge. He'd been standing on the bridge when it started raining, and then he'd ducked into —

Her father's shop.

The bells tied to the door handle chimed mockingly against a backdrop of torrential wind and half-sleet, and Barrett uttered a silent curse as Mana blustered into the shop, drenched to the bone and dripping liquid ice.

"Mana!"

Douglas' voice reverberated through the little store as he fretted over his daughter. Barrett arched a brow at the sight of the large man being so compassionate, though it was no secret that the shopkeeper's life centered around his only relative. "Mana, hurry on upstairs and change! You'll catch a cold at this rate."

"Da-ad," she sighed, drawing out the single syllable in a way that was obviously meant to sound endearing, "I know! I'm not two years old." She walked over to the stairs, water already pooling beneath her feet. Barrett watched her for a moment, observing the fond smile that lit up her face despite her apparent annoyance with her father moments earlier. He felt like an intruder in the cozy atmosphere, unaccustomed to such a naturally close bond between father and child…as averse to his own rough relationship with his single parent.

Mana didn't seem to notice his eyes on her as she skipped up each step (singing to herself cheerily, he noted with distaste), but Barrett suddenly became aware of another pair of eyes on him.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees —

and after a few moments of chilly silence, Barrett turned a fraction to see Douglas' eyes drilling into his own.

"You eyein' my daughter, boy?" Douglas took a step towards him, and Barrett would later recall that the earth had trembled.

Fighting to keep his expression impassive, said boy shook his head, staring back out the window once more. For a moment he toyed with the idea of running out the door and making a quick escape (not because he was intimidated by Douglas or anything, he just…remembered something he had to do), but the notion was ruled out as rain spattered against the glass with a renewed ferocity.

Fortunately, Douglas said nothing more, but the tense atmosphere morphed into one of awkwardness. While Barrett was usually comforted by the pleasant stillness that silence brought, he was almost relieved to hear the airy footfalls as Mana bounded down the steps (and welcoming Mana's presence was a dangerous thing indeed).

Despite himself, his eyes flickered over to her. She was dressed in the candy-pink that was her custom, though the ribbons that she always wove through her hair were conspicuously absent. Her dress was still sweetly frilled, but it was more comfortable looking than her usual attire.

With her hair let down and her feet clad only in knee-length socks, Mana was more casual than he had ever seen her.

And it was weird.

Temporarily forgetting Douglas' threatening stature, his gaze lingered on the dark-haired girl. He'd never really liked Mana. She had always seemed so obnoxiously upbeat. But perched on the bottom step of the staircase (with a notebook that looked suspiciously like a diary in hand), she was almost…

His train of thought was interrupted when Douglas deep voice rang through the air. "Well, are you just gonna stand there gawkin' at my daughter all day?"

He tore his gaze away from her with a frown before she could look up. "I wasn't —"

"Listen, either buy something or get out!"

"Daddy!" Mana gasped, rising to her feet indignantly. "You can't just kick him out! It's storming outside!"

Barrett studied the floor motionlessly, wondering why in the world this strange girl was defending him — it wasn't as if he wanted her pity.

Apparently, Douglas was wondering too. "Why are you stickin' up for him, Mana?"

She puffed out her cheeks in the childish endearment she was known for. "I'm just being hospitable, Daddy! You always try to drive away potential customers!"

Mirroring his daughter, Douglas pouted with an almost juvenile sulkiness. Barrett resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead allowing himself to be drawn into the rain's spell, blocking out the noise in the shop.

Dark gray eclipsed his vision.

Well, he thought sourly, that didn't last long.

"Um…Barrett? Can you hear me?"

"What?" He mumbled, avoiding her inquisitive look.

"Well, since it's cold outside, I was wondering if you wanted some hot cocoa!"

'I don't like sweets' was what he wanted to say, but he had a feeling Douglas wouldn't be pleased if he rejected Mana's offer. "…Fine."

"You drink it, you buy it." Douglas said gruffly. Mana glared at him, before turning back to Barrett and smiling.

"Don't worry, it's on the house."

-x-

The rain had stopped halfway through his cup of melted chocolate.

He told himself that he only stayed to finish the whole thing

(disregarding the fact that he'd always hated sweets before).

-x-

The next day, she trilled 'good morning' as she breezed past him on the bridge.

And, despite the odd glances from the passing villagers, he found himself returning the sentiment.

-x-

It was raining.

Not the downpours that were characteristic of Alvarna, rather, a light drizzle that seemed to set everything aglow, including the bare-branched tree in front of him.

It was just a stupid tree. It flowered in the spring and lost its petals in the winter, like every other tree —

so why was she so affixed with it?

He and Mana were not friends. They were…acquaintances, and nothing more.

Yet here he was, and there she was, sitting on the frosty ground and leaning against the withered trunk. Her eyes were closed and a light sheen dusted her skin, accounted for by the drops that twinkled down like fairy powder. She would get mud on her dress, he mused absentmindedly.

She shifted, digging the toe of her boot into a patch of dirt. And he found himself standing. The park bench wasn't all that comfortable, anyway.

The ground squelched beneath him as he sat, but, oddly enough, the sensation wasn't enough to discourage him completely. Sitting here, next to that annoying girl and her lacquered happiness, he ignored the dampness as the scent of rain and pumpkin spice and sugar blended together.

She opened her eyes, blinking.

"Hey." He said lowly, staring up at the gray sky from between the spindly branches.

Her voice was quiet. "Hey there."

He didn't ask why she was so attached to the tree. He didn't really have to. While he preferred silence above all else, he didn't mind her singsong greetings so much. Not that he _enjoyed _hearing her voice; he just didn't hate it. Not exactly.

Somehow, she understood. Mana, the sunshiny chatterbox, _understood _that what he wanted most right now was to hear the pitterpatter of precipitation and nothing else. Because, right now, it was what she wanted most too.

So, for a fleeting moment, they really saw each other.

-x-

He didn't know how long they had been sitting under the tree. The rain had long stopped, but neither found themselves standing.

It didn't matter.

Feeling soft fingertips ghost over his hand, Barrett looked up at the darkening sky and found himself the closest to happiness he had been in a long time.

He always did like the rainy days best.


End file.
